INS ''Subhadra'' (P51) is a Sukanya class patrol vessel of the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...

.Indian Naval Ships-OPV-Sukanya Class
, indiannavy.nic.in, 2011-10-20 Since her commissioning, she has been under the operational command of Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet (India) (FOCWF). The ship has changed its base port to Karwar, Karnataka in Mar 2012 from Mumbai. During the operational service, the ship has evolved in two major roles – Strategic and Conventional.

History

The ship’s name is rechristened from the old Subhadra, a patrol craft which was commissioned on 20 Oct 1957 and served the

well till her decommissioning on 15 Jan 1974. Indian Naval Ship Subhadra is the second of the three Sukanya Class ships built by M/s Korea Tacoma Marine Industries at Masan. She originally was an Ulsan class ship. The Ulsan class ship were multipurpose frigates with varied capabilities for

Anti-Submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in the older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations ar ...

Anti-Surface warfare Anti-surface warfare (ASuW or ASUW) is the branch of naval warfare concerned with the suppression of surface combatants. More generally, it is any weapons, sensors, or operations intended to attack or limit the effectiveness of an adversary's ...

and

Anti-Air warfare Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-bas ...

Construction

The keel of INS Subhadra was laid on 30 October 1987, and the ship was launched on 17 November 1988. It was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 25 January 1990 at Masan by His Excellency Shri Lt Pudai. The vessel began its maiden voyage from Masan on 31 January 1990, making port calls at Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (6–9 February 1990) and Sembawang Port, Singapore (11–14 February 1990), before arriving at its initial home port, Mumbai (then Bombay).

Design and Description

General Characteristics and Propulsione INS Subhadra has an overall length of 101.95 meters (334 feet), a beam of 11.5 meters (37.7 feet), and a draft of 3.6 meters (11.8 feet). The ship displaces approximately 1,896 tonnes at normal load and 2,045 tonnes at full load. It has a complement of 107 personnel, including 8 officers. The vessel is powered by two SEMT Pielstick 16PA6V280 diesel engines, delivering 12,800 brake horsepower (9,540 kW) to two shafts, enabling a maximum speed of 22 knots (40.5 km/h). Power Generation The ship is equipped with four Cummins VTA28GC1 diesel alternators, each with a power output of 400 kW. It also features advanced navigation and communication systems, which are utilized during deployments. Armament INS Subhadra is armed with a 40 mm, 60-caliber BOFORS anti-aircraft gun on the gun deck. Additionally, it is equipped with portable machine guns and fixed heavy-duty machine guns (SRCG) on both port and starboard sides. The ship also has the capability to conduct surface-to-surface missile (SSM) firing using a plug-in and plug-out Israel-made LORA COM missile launcher system.

Service history

Operation Sankalp

''INS Subhadra'' played a crucial role in the rescue of 17 sailors from the ''former-MV Ruen'' as she, along with

INS Kolkata INS ''Kolkata'' is the lead ship of the guided-missile destroyer, stealth guided-missile destroyers of the Indian Navy. Named after the Indian city of Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), she was constructed at Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) and was hand ...

, P-8I Neptune

patrol aircraft A maritime patrol aircraft (MPA), also known as a patrol aircraft, maritime reconnaissance aircraft, maritime surveillance aircraft, or by the older American term patrol bomber, is a fixed-wing aircraft designed to operate for long durations over ...

, SeaGuardian drones and

MARCOS Marcos may refer to: People with the given name ''Marcos'' *Marcos (given name) * Marcos family Sports ;Surnamed * Dayton Marcos, Negro league baseball team from Dayton, Ohio (early twentieth-century) * Dimitris Markos, Greek footballer * Né ...

Commandos air-dropped from an IAF

C-17 Globemaster III The McDonnell Douglas/Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is a large military transport aircraft developed for the United States Air Force (USAF) between the 1980s to the early 1990s by McDonnell Douglas. The C-17 carries forward the name of two previ ...

.The ship managed to capture 35 pirates in a mammoth 40 hour operation about 700 miles from Indian Coastlines.

Ships of the Same Class

INS Subhadra belongs to the Sukanya-class offshore patrol vessels. Other ships in this class include: * INS Sukanya (P50) * INS Suvarna (P52)

Awards and Decorations

In 2024, INS Subhadra was awarded "Best Ship" in the Tanker and Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) category, marking the first time it received this recognition in its service history.

Foreign Port Visits

Throughout its service, INS Subhadra has visited numerous foreign ports, including: * Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City) * Singapore (Sembawang Port) * Somalia * Kenya * Sudan * Egypt * Israel * Djibouti * Seychelles * Oman

References

Sukanya-class patrol vessels 1988 ships {{mil-ship-stub